Entrapment neuropathy of the suprascapular never by a ganglion is a rare entity. Since 1970, only 21 cases have been reported. Most of the cases cited had usually not been diagnosed prior to operative intervention. The authors reported on a similar patient in 1989. In this paper, five cases of suprascapular nerve palsy by a ganglion including that case are reported and the usefulness of ultrasonography in confirming the diagnosis is discussed. The complaints presented were pain around the shoulder and weakness of external rotation. All four patients had a marked tenderness in the infraspinatus fossa and a wasting of the infrasipnatus muscle. Electromyographic studies showed delayed terminal latency of the inferior branch of the suprascapular nerve in all cases except one. The diagnosis of a ganglion as the agent producing compression of the suprascapular nerve was made with the help of ultrasonography in all five patients prior to instituting any treatment and it was also made with a CT in four patients. The ganglion was found at the spinoglenoid notch in four cases and between the scapular and spino-glenoid notches in one patient. The ganglion and the pedicle were excised. The patients made uneventful recoveries with immediate relief of pain.
